MIGRAINES AND TENSION HEADACHES

Tension headache pain is a result of muscle contraction in the head and neck. Patients at Spot On Acupuncture generally experience it as mild to moderate pain, like a tight band around the head, like a vise. Does this sound familiar to you?

Symptoms of tension headaches :

  • Dull, aching pain in the head
  • Sensations of pressure and tightness across the forehead, on the sides, or back of the head, or behind the eyes
  • Tenderness and tightness in the neck and shoulder muscles

These headaches can be located in any region in the head or neck. Clients also indicate that they also vary greatly in frequency, intensity, and duration.

Before trying acupuncture, many patients report that their pain that persisted for months or years, despite trials of multiple medications.

Episodic or Chronic Tension Headaches

If you get tension headaches, you will probably experience one of two main categories of tension headaches: episodic and chronic.

  • Episodic tension headaches can last anywhere from 30 minutes to a week and occur fewer than 15 days a month for at least 3 months.  These are the most common form of tension headaches, usually occurring 2-3 times per month.
  • Chronic Tension Headaches can last hours and can go on continuously for long stretches of time.  Tension headaches are considered chronic if they last for more than 15 days a month for at least 3 months.

Tension headache or migraine?

While it can be difficult to distinguish frequent episodic tension headaches from migraines (and some individuals experience both), tension headaches do not have the visual disturbances and nausea associated with migraines.

Further to that, migraines have a neurological component that is not observed with tension headaches.

How acupuncture helps tension headaches:

Acupuncture provides effective and lasting relief for tension headaches without the potential side effects of medications.

The beauty of using acupuncture for tension headaches is that it works on three fronts, addressing both the symptoms and the cause:

  1. Relieves pain naturally: acupuncture prompts your body to release natural painkillers. By inserting small needles into specific sites on the body, the needles trigger a response from the nervous system. This response from the nervous system leads our brain to release a cascade of natural painkillers (endorphins and enkephalins).
  2. Relaxes muscular tension: acupuncture needles signal the brain (via the nervous system) to direct blood flow to the affected areas. With increased blood flow in the head and neck, acupuncture helps relax the muscles there. This direction of blood flow addresses the physical mechanism causing the tension headache pain.
  3. Reduces stress and regulates the body’s stress response: this may be what best addresses the root of the tension headache problem. Acupuncture is well known for it’s ability to regulate the central and autonomic nervous system. In doing so, it appears to bring heart rate variability into healthy ranges, reducing the experience of stress. Acupuncture also strengthens the brain’s executive function, helping you deal with stress without the physiologically taxing sympathetic nervous system (being in “fight-or-flight” mode).